Seals, such as mechanical face seals, may be employed in a variety of systems, environments, and/or applications. For example, mechanical face seals may be formed, at least in part, of a metal, or other rigid material, and may be incorporated and utilized to sealingly engage another component, which may be a mechanical system component and/or another seal, and, in so doing, may retain lubricants within the system and/or may prevent external debris or foreign matter from being introduced within the internal, sealed environment of the interior of the system. However, under certain conditions which may be attendant to the operation and/or environment of the system, and/or the interaction between the components thereof, interaction between one or more components of the system may lead to wearing of the seal. The wearing of the seal may be caused due to numerous reasons such as, but not limited to, frictional forces which the seal may experience, such as, at the sealing interface. Repeated exposure to frictional forces and/or one or more instances of exposure to a frictional force which may be excessive may result in damage to the seal which may compromise the effectiveness of the seal to retain lubricants within the system and/or may prevent external debris or foreign matter from being introduced within the internal, sealed environment of the interior of the system, which may, in turn, compromise the operation of the system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,546 relates to a seal that comprises a combination of a movable member and a stationary member. Either one of the movable and stationary members is irradiated with an ion beam consisting essentially of nitrogen ions and at the same time as titanium is vacuum-deposited on the surface of either the movable member or the stationary member, thereby forming a thin titanium nitride film.